Workers and Poverty News
"Even in jobs with the federal, state or local government, Idaho men make more than women doing the same work.... One in seven Idaho women and girls live below the poverty line (compared to about one in nine Idaho males)."
"Their jobless rate may be lower than average, but when an older worker loses a job, it can be devastating. These workers, typically 55 or older, aren't ready to retire. But their years of work experience don't make regrouping to find the next job any easier."
"Families headed by single women are most likely to live under the poverty line. On an average night, women and children make up two-thirds of the state's homeless population."
"'Any chink in the system can make it hard for them to achieve,' said Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, which studies issues affecting low-income District residents. 'It is a complicated web to fix.'"
"His ally, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R., Butler), preferred to talk about physical threats. He warned of 'illegal alien invasion' and linked foreigners, not to low wages, but to violent crime and the 'potential for terrorist attacks.'"
"It's worth noting, though, that those lost jobs paid low wages, an average of $9.02 an hour in 2008, according to the UIC/Loyola study. That compares with Wal-Mart's reported full-time average wage of $11.77 in Austin in 2010."
"Businesses spreading out along Jefferson Parish's lengthy commercial corridors are helping fuel job sprawl in the New Orleans region, complicating daily routines for low-wage earners, says a new report from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center."
"'They deserve a decent wage like anyone else,' Cantrell said. 'They are professionals, they shouldn't be poverty-stricken.'"
"Every day, 200,000 domestic workers in New York make it possible for their employers to go to work. Yet, many of these mostly immigrant women of color are employed without a living wage, health care and basic labor protections."
"Tyson Foods Inc. has settled a decade-long dispute with the Labor Department by agreeing to pay workers at poultry plants for time they spend putting on and taking off protective clothing."
"Kudos to Miami-Dade County for acting on behalf of low-wage workers by requiring companies to do the right thing and pay within two weeks of workers doing a job."
"Poor people are not poor because of low wages. For the most part, they're poor because of low productivity, and wages are connected to productivity."
"Perez Marroquin said he held a summer job for two years at Agriprocessors... Like all the underage workers at the plant who have testified, he said he lied about his age and used false documents to obtain employment to support his impoverished family."
"The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, as the bill is being called, would have wide-ranging implications for the largest development projects in New York, replacing agreements hammered out project by project with a broad standard intended to protect low-wage workers."
"That has left swelling numbers of low-income families struggling to reconcile the demands of work and parenting, just as they confront one of the toughest job markets in decades."
"But for many refugees, green-card lottery winners, visa holders it also meant beginning another line of work because of language barriers, credentialing requirements, poverty and the perception that an immigrant is not as qualified as a native-born American."
"I don’t want to live in a world without unions. Historically, organized labor has curbed the abuse of workers, pulled countless Americans out of poverty and secured the 40-hour work week. Today, the threat of organizing helps keep potentially predatory employers honest."
"The in-home attendants provide care to low-income people with disabilities covered by Medicaid. In-home care tries to save the state the additional costs of sending people to nursing homes."
"'The unintended consequences of our legislators' good intentions is an increase in the cost to hire and train entry-level or less-skilled employees like minority teens,' ...[E]mployers can either slash the number of low-wage jobs they offer or hire more experienced applicants."
"Greenhouse said he felt the 'Justice for Janitors' campaign driven by the Service Employees International Union was effective because it targeted low-wage workers 'who are largely invisible, who have no one pulling for them.'"
"Pittsburgh this week announced that it had federal funding to offer jobs for 555 low-income city residents 14 to 21 years old. The [summer] jobs... will be cleaning up parks and vacant lots or as interns with local businesses. The workers will be paid $7.25 an hour."
"Now, the union representing custodians, gardeners and other low-wage workers again calls for a graduation boycott, and some UC Berkeley students are angry that the union is including a Latino family graduation celebration set for Saturday."
"The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the Public Counsel Law Center had filed a lawsuit in February, claiming that layoffs at the schools in low-income and minority areas would violate the state constitutional right of students."
"They are also required to create data driven systems for monitoring student progress and evaluating teachers -- and to ensure that low-income and minority children are no longer disproportionately taught by unqualified teachers."
"Let's say a single mom raising two kids is employed full time by the district as a secretary. She is eligible for food stamps. In fact, if that same mom held any of the jobs mentioned above, she could receive food stamps to help keep her family from abject poverty."
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